If each city is like a game of chess, the day when I have learned the rules, I shall finally possess my empire, even if I shall never succeed in knowing all the cities it contains.—Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities

Can you describe the mood of Rio de Janeiro as you feel/see it?

Irreverence. Violence. Cordiality. Adultery. Gambling. Confrontation. Improvisation. Creativity. Eroticism. Africanity. Frenchism. Mischievousness. Import. A great sense of irony. No sense of tragedy. And the streets, the culture of the streets.

What is your most heartbreaking memory in this city?

The genocides, which began with the Tamoio (indigenous people that inhabited the city at the time of the European invasion), went on to the massacre of the capoeiras (slaves and freed black men who practiced the fighting art of capoeira) in the beginning of the Republic, culminating with the contemporary extermination of people living in the favelas (ghettos).

What is the most extraordinary detail, one that goes unnoticed by most, of the city?

The complete destruction of the founding landmark of the city, the place from where it was built up: Morro do Castelo (Castelo Hill) that had an undeniable historical and archeological value. Rio de Janeiro is probably the only metropolis in the world that erased all the vestiges of its origins.

The Centro Histórico (historic downtown) of the city, more specifically the botequins (bars) of the Centro Histórico.

Is there an iconic literary place we should know?

Rio has a number of literary places: Centro Histórico, Tijuca, Copacabana, the favelas in the suburbs. But the iconic place by definition is the Passarela (carnival venue) where the Escolas de Samba (samba clubs) parade: it’s there that the poems and epics characteristic of the city are chanted, the only epic genre created in the modern age: the sambas de enredo (narrative-based samba songs). It’s undoubtedly the biggest show on earth.

Are there hidden cities within this city that have intrigued or seduced you?

Intrigued me, no. But the favelas and the suburbs, which I have always visited since I was a teenager. These are places unknown to the official city. But they are not exactly cities within the City. They are the City itself.

Where does passion live here?

In botequins, where the passion for soccer and samba circulate and pulse.

What is the title of one of your works about Rio de Janeiro and what inspired it exactly?

Compêndio Mítico do Rio de Janeiro (Mythical Textbook of Rio de Janeiro), a series of five crime novellas, one for each century of Rio’s history: A primeira história do mundo; O trono da rainha Jinga; A origem da espécie (to be written); A hipótese humana (forthcoming in 2017); and O senhor do lado esquerdo (The Mystery of Rio). My inspiration, like in all my novels, is mythology: Amerindian, African, Carioca (related to people from Rio).

Alberto Mussa was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1961. After studying mathematics, he received his master’s in linguistics and wrote his dissertation on the role of African languages in the history of Brazilian Portuguese (O papel das línguas africanas na história do português do Brasil). He was a professor and lexicographer before becoming a writer in 1997. His novels and short stories include Compêndio Mítico do Rio de Janeiro, a series of five crime novellas, one for each century of Rio’s history. He recreated the mythology of the ancient indigenous people Tupinambás; translated pre-Islamic Arabic poetry; and wrote, with Luiz Antônio Simas, a history of samba enredo. Among other awards, he has received the prizes Casa de Las Américas; Academia Brasileira de Letras; Oceanos; Machado de Assis, from the National Library and the Sao Paulo Association of Art Critics. His work has been published in sixteen countries and in thirteen languages.

Published Jul 12, 2017 Copyright 2017 Nathalie Handal

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Nathalie Handal was raised in Latin America, France, and the Arab world, educated in the United States and the United Kingdom, and has moved between cities in Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and the United States most of her life. Her recent books include the flash collection The Republics, lauded as “one of the most inventive books by one of today’s most diverse writers” and winner of the Virginia Faulkner Award for Excellence in Writing and the Arab American Book Award; the critically acclaimed Poet in Andalucía; and Love and Strange Horses, winner of the Gold Medal Independent Publisher Book Award. Handal is a Lannan Foundation Fellow, Centro Andaluz de las Letras Fellow, Fondazione di Venezia Fellow, and winner of the Alejo Zuloaga Order in Literature, among other honors. She is a professor at Columbia University.
Photo: The author in Afghanistan.

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Words without Borders opens doors to international exchange through translation, publication, and promotion of the best international literature. Every month we publish select prose and poetry on our site. In addition we develop print anthologies, work with educators to bring literature in translation into classrooms, host events with foreign authors, and maintain an extensive archive of global writing.